Those who adopt a vegan diet avoid eating any foods of animal origin.

Since eggs come from poultry, they seem like an obvious choice to eliminate.

However, there’s a trend among some vegans to incorporate certain types of eggs into their diet. It’s known as a “veggan” diet.

This article takes a look at the reasons behind this diet trend, and why some vegans eat eggs.

People choose to follow a vegan diet for various reasons. Often, the decision involves a combination of ethics, health, and environmental motivators (1Trusted Source).

Health benefits

Eating more plants and either cutting back on or eliminating animal-based foods can have health benefits, including a lower risk of chronic diseases, especially heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and cancer (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).

In fact, a study in 15,000 vegans found that vegans had healthier weights, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, compared with omnivores. In addition, they had a 15% lower risk of cancer (3Trusted Source).

Advantages for the environment

Some opt for a vegan diet because they believe it’s more environmentally friendly.

However, an Italian study that compared the environmental impact of omnivores, egg- and dairy-eating vegetarians, and vegans, found the vegetarian diet had the most favorable effect on the environment, followed by the vegan diet (4Trusted Source).

Researchers suggested this was because vegan diets often include more processed plant-based meat and dairy substitutes. Also, vegans generally eat a greater quantity of food to meet their calorie needs (4Trusted Source).

Animal welfare concerns

Besides health and environmental motivations, strict vegans are also strongly in favor of animal welfare. They reject the use of animals for food or any other use, including clothing.

Vegans argue that modern farming practices are harmful and cruel to animals, including hens.

For example, in commercial egg-producing poultry farms, it’s not uncommon for hens to live in small, indoor cages, have their beaks clipped, and undergo induced molting to regulate and increase their egg production (5, 6, 7).

SUMMARY

People who choose to eat a vegan diet are often motivated by a combination of health, environmental, and animal welfare beliefs. In general, vegans don’t eat eggs because they’re at odds with commercial poultry farming practices